Palm announces $100 consumer smartphone

Wolfgang Gruener, 27th September 2007

New York (NY) – Smartphones aren't just for business users anymore: Palm will begin selling the entry-level "Centro" through Sprint in mid-October.

If a Blackberry is just too enterprise-focused and an iPhone is too expensive, but you still want the functionality of a smartphone, Palm may have just what you are looking for. The Centro, scheduled for a mid-October delivery and a price tag of $100, delivers much of the functionality of a traditional smartphone without the software baggage of an enterprise device.

The Centro offers all of the features you would expect from such a device – a keyboard, a camera (1.3 megapixel), a decent display (320x320 pixel), Bluetooth connectivity, an MP3 player as well as organizer application. What is surprising, however, is that it also comes with EvDO wireless broadband capability, which should make the web browser and embedded Google Maps much more useful applications than they are, for example, in Apple's iPhone.

The phone will only be available through Sprint, which charges at least $40/month for an EvDO plan with 40 MB transfer volume. There is also an unlimited EvDO plan, which is priced at $60 per month.

Palm said that the phone can be pre-ordered beginning Friday, September 28.